Whereas battery swapping has struggled to take off in a lot of the world, Canadian auto components big Magna Worldwide believes the mannequin may work at scale in India, the place hundreds of thousands of two- and three-wheelers and a fast-growing supply economic system create a unique set of economics.
And it’s inserting that guess on Yuma Energy, a Bengaluru-based agency that operates a battery-swapping community for electrical two- and three-wheelers. Yuma, which spun out of Indian mobility startup Yulu in early 2023, has accomplished greater than 60 million swaps so far and now has about 100,000 batteries deployed throughout its community.
Magna is now investing one other $35 million in Yuma, growing the auto provider’s stake from the 51% it took when the three way partnership was fashioned, Yuma managing director Muthu Subramanian stated in an interview. In consequence, Yulu’s 49% stake shall be diluted. Subramanian declined to reveal the brand new possession cut up.
Yulu and Yuma are Magna’s solely startup investments in India, the corporate confirmed to TechCrunch. In 2022, Magna committed a combined $77 million to the 2 companies, with $25 million going to Yulu and $52 million to the battery-swapping three way partnership.
Betting on India’s gig economic system
Magna’s newest funding hinges largely on India’s growing gig economy.
Supply riders can lose invaluable time, and income, whereas charging their EVs. Subramanian estimates that solely about 10% to fifteen% of autos utilized by gig staff in India are electrical immediately, leaving appreciable room for operators comparable to Yuma if extra of these riders swap from gasoline-powered autos.
“With Indian gig staff’ excessive runtime each day, an EV makes absolute sense by way of price of possession,” Subramanian advised TechCrunch. “Uptime is essential.”
Yuma is concentrating on these high-mileage riders, arguing that swapping is extra sensible than quick charging. A battery, Subramanian stated, will be exchanged in beneath two minutes, whereas even a 20- or 30-minute quick cost takes a rider off the highway and requires extra space and energy to serve a number of autos without delay.
Nevertheless, constructing that comfort is pricey, as Yuma has to maintain its batteries and swapping infrastructure prepared earlier than sufficient riders arrive to totally make the most of them. “It’s a capital-intensive enterprise, and the unit economics will play out at scale,” Subramanian stated.
Yuma shouldn’t be worthwhile but, although a few of its older swapping stations are already EBITDA-positive, Subramanian stated. The agency operates greater than 400 stations with over 2,500 charging models and ended the monetary 12 months in March 2026 with about ₹1 billion (about $10.5 million) in income. It’s concentrating on EBITDA break-even inside the subsequent two quarters, Subramanian advised TechCrunch.
Getting there’ll nonetheless require Yuma to construct forward of demand. The agency plans to make use of the majority of Magna’s funding to increase its swapping infrastructure and double its fleet of about 100,000 batteries over the following 12 to 18 months.
Yulu nonetheless accounts for the overwhelming majority of Yuma’s 60 million lifetime swaps, although that dependence has began to ease as about 15% to twenty% of swaps within the newest quarter got here from prospects apart from Yulu, Subramanian advised TechCrunch.
Past Yulu, Yuma now serves greater than 5 fleets and has built-in its batteries with greater than 10 automobile platforms, together with fashions from Kinetic Inexperienced, Motovolt, BGauss, and Quantum Vitality. The agency expects non-Yulu prospects to account for about 25% of its swaps inside the subsequent two years, Subramanian stated.
Earlier this month, Yulu raised $93 million to develop its electrical two-wheeler fleet. Yuma will subsequently have to increase its community to maintain tempo with its largest buyer and accommodate newer fleets utilizing its batteries.
Yuma operates its battery-swapping community throughout 18 Indian cities, together with Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and the Delhi area, in addition to Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Coimbatore, Kochi, and Kolkata. With the recent capital, the agency plans to increase into Chennai and Pune within the coming quarters whereas including extra stations in cities the place it already operates.
India will stay Yuma’s focus for not less than the following 12 to 18 months. Nevertheless, Subramanian advised TechCrunch that the agency plans to take the mannequin abroad as a part of its longer-term roadmap. Southeast Asian markets together with Vietnam and Thailand, in addition to components of Africa, might be engaging due to their massive two-wheeler markets, he stated, although Yuma has but to start discussions about getting into them.
Not like operators that merely run swapping networks, Yuma designs and manufactures its personal battery packs and charging models. The agency makes battery packs at its facility in Chennai and charging models in Bengaluru, giving it management over each the {hardware} and the community that manages them.
Once you buy by means of hyperlinks in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t have an effect on our editorial independence.
